


Epigone - Hospital

by cutsycat



Series: Dictionary.Com Word of the Day Drabbles [1452]
Category: NCIS
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:35:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21553987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutsycat/pseuds/cutsycat
Summary: Tony never joined NCIS. In fact, he's currently a history teacher, but somehow he still manages to get the plague during SWAK.
Relationships: Anthony DiNozzo/Jethro Gibbs
Series: Dictionary.Com Word of the Day Drabbles [1452]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/444514
Comments: 32
Kudos: 84
Collections: Prompts for Cutsycat - NCIS (2018)





	Epigone - Hospital

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Angst_BuriTTo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angst_BuriTTo/gifts).



> Another dictionary.com word of the day drabble. This time from 04/22/2003 for the word [epigone](http://www.dictionary.com/wordoftheday/2003/04/22/epigone).
> 
> epigone[ ep-i-gohn ]  
> noun  
> an undistinguished imitator, follower, or successor of an important writer, painter, etc.
> 
> This was requested by Angst__BuriTTo as part of my 2018 prompt challenge [here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/cutsycat_NCIS_Prompts_2018/profile). The 2018 Prompts are closed, however, you can still sign up for the 2019 Prompts [here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/cutsycat_NCIS_Prompts_2019/profile). More instructions are below if you wish to sign up. Note: This had multiple prompts. I removed the ones I wasn't fulfilling.
> 
>  **Prompt:**  
>  46\. Civilian!Tony Tibbs  
>  **End Prompt**

“Who are you?” Tony croaked out from his hospital bed.

“Special Agent Gibbs.”

“Well Special Agent Gibbs, what can I do for you?” Tony coughed again. “You better hurry and ask your questions. The doctors’ say I don’t have long to live.”

“You’re not going to die if I have anything to say about it.”

“That’s sweet, Gibbs, but I’m pretty sure the doctors know more about my condition than you do. Now, why are you here?”

“I need to know more about the envelope you opened that resulted in your hospitalization.”

“The envelope?”

“Yeah.”

“How do you know it was an envelope?” Tony gasped out, feeling short of breath. “That was kept out of the news media.”

“Because the letter inside was forwarded to us after you arrived in the hospital.”

“What? You aren’t making any sense.”

“Someone used you to get our attention and I can’t find out who or why without more information. What do you remember?”

“I think a kiss was used to seal the envelope.”

Gibbs nodded. “Uh huh. Anything else?”

“Oh heck. I don’t know. The envelope is probably in my apartment. Go look for it there.”

“I’m going to find whoever did this to you,” Gibbs promised as he left.

Tony shook his head. He had the worst luck. First a broken leg had prevented him from going pro, then a shattered pelvic bone had prevented him from becoming a cop and now he’d landed himself in the hospital with a serious disease when he was only a history teacher. It wasn’t even like he was undercover as a history teacher and was actually a cop. He was truly just a history teacher.

Well he was still alive for now. Maybe this Gibbs guy would come through. Though, why a Special Agent cared about what happened to him was beyond Tony.

Tony’s condition continued to worsen. He was pretty sure he wasn’t going to make it out of this one. He was surprised to see Special Agent Gibbs again. “Gibbs? Come to apologize for not saving me?”

Gibbs snarled, “You will not die.”

Tony coughed. “Heh. If only it worked that way.”

“No. You listen to me, DiNozzo. This disease can’t kill you. You just have to keep fighting.”

“Call me, Tony,” Tony smiled wanly. “Did you figure out who did this?”

“Yeah. A whack job named Hanna Lowell.”

“What did she want?”

“She wanted justice for her daughter.”

“Did she get it?”

Gibbs shook his head. “No. Her daughter lied. There was no justice to be had. She just injured an innocent for no reason,” Gibbs growled the last line in disgust.

“You know. There’s no reason for you to be here. You don’t even know me.”

“It’s my fault you’re in here. I’m going to make sure nothing else happens to you.”

Tony coughed. “I think you’re a little too late for that. I’m pretty sure there is no job safe for me.”

“Still the envelope was supposed to go to NCIS. I don’t know how it ended up in your possession, but I won’t rest until you’re back on your own feet.”

Tony blinked. This agent seemed awfully determined to stick with Tony and he had no idea why. “I haven’t been on my own two feet since my second major surgery. My cane and I are good friends, though.”

Gibbs punched the wall, which resulted in Dr. Brad Pitt poking his head in. “If you can’t remain calm, we’re going to have to ask you to leave Gibbs.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“I still don’t see how this is your fault. Some chick sent a letter with an infectious disease in it. She’s the one responsible, not you.”

“No. The letter should have landed on my desk. Instead, it got swept up in some things being sent to a history professor who was looking into doing a section on NCIS. I guess that was you.”

“Guess so. Still doesn’t make it your fault. Now go away.”

Gibbs stubbornly shook his head and pulled up a chair.

“Seriously. What do you have to prove?”

“You’re my responsibility. You got sick because of me.”

Tony sighed. “Fine. If you’re going to insist on watching me die, at least make yourself useful and find some pretty nurses for me to gawk at.”

Gibbs rolled his eyes. “How about I read to you instead?”

Tony waved a hand dismissively. “I’d rather have a bevy of beautiful nurses.”

Gibbs ignored him and proceeded to read aloud the first chapter of The Princess and the Frog. Somewhere around the fifth or sixth page, Tony fell asleep. When he woke up, Gibbs was still reading.

Tony coughed as he moved to sit up and Gibbs quickly grabbed the glass of water with a straw by the bed and held it out to Tony. Tony took a quick drink and nodded his thanks. “Why are you still here?”

“I already told you. I’m not leaving until you’re better.”

Before Tony could protest that, the doors to his room slid open and Dr. Pitt entered. “I have good news. It looks like luck is on your side. The worst should be over.”

”I’m not dying?”

“Nope, though, we’ll have to wait to see what kind of permanent damage will remain once your body finishes fighting off the Y-pestis.”

“And what is that in layman's terms?” Tony asked.

“The plague.”

“Wait. Seriously? I caught the plague. How cool is that?”

Both Dr. Pitt and Gibbs shot him concerned looks. “You almost died from a disease that hasn’t been seen since the 18th century and you’re happy about this?” Gibbs couldn’t believe his ears.

“Yep. It will be a great story for my history class.”

Dr. Pitt chuckled as he turned and left to deal with other patients.

“Is everything about the yabba-yabba with you, DiNozzo?”

Tony shrugged. “With everything that’s happened to me, I have to look at the bright side or I’d be drowning in depression.”

When Tony was finally released from the hospital, he expected to never see Special Agent Gibbs again. He was surprised to find Gibbs lingering at the back of one of his lectures, focusing on epigones, on his first day back to teaching. Apparently, he’d made a lasting impression on the Special Agent.

Truthfully, Gibbs had made an impression on him too. After all, he’d never had someone so insistent to stay by his bedside. Heck, his father hadn’t even shown up at the hospital the entire time Tony was ill. 

Tony had to admit he liked the attention that Gibbs had lavished on him in the hospital and he kind of missed it once it was gone. When Gibbs walked up to him after his session finished and asked him out, Tony had no choice but to accept. 

“Yes.”

Gibbs grinned and dropped a folder on Tony’s desk. “Something to remember us by. My forensic technician made it.”

Tony raised an eyebrow and shook the package. It didn’t really make much noise and his curiosity was intrigued. He unwrapped it and pulled out a poster. “What’s this?” Tony asked as he unrolled the poster, but couldn’t figure out what it could possibly be.

“A Y-pestis cell blown up so that it’s more like abstract art. I thought a visual aid would be helpful if you did decide to include your brush with the plague in a history lesson.”

Tony’s eyes lit up. “This is great.” He gave Gibbs a great big hug. “I think I have the perfect place to hang this.”

Gibbs grinned back at Tony. “I’ll pick you up tonight at 6pm.”

Tony gave Gibbs a thumbs up as he was busy finding something to hang his new poster up with. He was looking forward to tonight. It would be interesting to see what Gibbs thought would be appropriate for a first date, but honestly Tony felt like he was already half in love with the guy just from what Gibbs had done already.

**Author's Note:**

> The dictionary.com series has 2 stories already written for it after this one, so I will be posting at least 2 more stories before I stop posting again. I'm hoping to get more stories written before then, so that I don't stop posting for a while. Wish me luck! 
> 
> It's 2019 now and I have closed my 2018 Prompt collection, but fear not my 2019 Prompt Collection is now open [here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/cutsycat_NCIS_Prompts_2019/profile). Just click the sign up link. ;) It will remain open until the beginning of 2020. I'm hoping to complete all the 2019 prompts by the end of 2020. Do not fear I have not forgotten about the 2018 prompts and will continue working through them. It's just easier for me to not get overwhelmed if I keep the prompts separated by the year they were given to me.
> 
> If you are not an ao3 member, you can prompt me [here](http://cutsycat.livejournal.com/50701.html). Please follow the same rules as are listed in the above link. However, because this is a handmade prompt form(that thinks it's a poll), it is considerably more limited than what ao3 provides, so please use the ao3 form if you're an ao3 member. Please note the name option is for a name that I can say this is for so that you know it's for you. Since this is for non ao3 members it won't be true gifts, but you will be mentioned in the notes. Please note if you have already voted in the poll and would like to request more stories you can just add a comment to the poll. Please include the name along with the prompt, so that I can appropriately gift the prompt to you.
> 
> For any authors that want to chat and/or are looking for a place where they can toss plot ideas around and get input from people, you can come join my discord server that is specifically geared towards writing/encouraging people to write and authors. The invite link is [here](https://discord.gg/HFvwpCq). If you're not an author, but want to chat with me about writing/stories or anything else you are welcome to join. I reserve the right to boot you from my server if all you do is pester me about updates, however. *grin* Really anyone who wants to talk about writing and/or plot ideas for various stories is welcome to join. 
> 
> Also, Drakonyashka has translated a couple of my works into Russian. [Tutelage](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12378780) and [Imbue](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12378840). Go support them. 


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